


you call me lavender, you call me sunshine

by asphodelgrimoire



Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Alternate Universe - Merpeople, Cultural Differences, Hand Feeding, M/M, Merman Aaron Burr, Vague Time Period, maybe? - Freeform, weird amounts of ust for an asexual merman
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-25
Updated: 2016-05-25
Packaged: 2018-06-10 16:01:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,687
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6963478
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asphodelgrimoire/pseuds/asphodelgrimoire
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Captain, there's a man out there, by the rock." </p><p>"So there is," the captain agreed, and knelt to look at Aaron through the rails. "Do you need help?"</p><p>Aaron shook his head and finally looked up. The captain had warm eyes and looked like something out of the stories he'd been told as a young boy by his sister. Aaron wanted to trust him, but there was no way a human man could be as trustworthy as he looked. Humans were deceitful in nature. He averted his gaze, embarrassed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	you call me lavender, you call me sunshine

**Author's Note:**

> this is officially the weirdest shit i've ever wrote
> 
> i hope??? you like???????
> 
> title is appropriately from "mermaid hotel" by lana del rey

The water was warm. 

Aaron hummed gently as he came up from the crystal-clear water, watching the horizon. There was a single boat in the distance, nothing big enough for him to worry about, so he swam closer to the cavern just a few yards away. Soon, the sand underneath the water became visible, and he was in the shade. It was a nice day, but it was also nice to lounge in the cool wet air of a quiet cave. It was quite close to shore, but he didn't mind. Only a few people lived on the island, and if they noticed him before, they had never mentioned it. 

Eventually, smooth grey stone came into sight, and he scooted onto the slat once inside of his cavern. He sighed softly, a gentle exhale that echoed in the air around him. He would have loved more moments of peace and quiet, but with all that needed to be done, he never had the time. 

After some time, he heard shouting and the familiar sound of a ship cutting through water. It had to be the one he saw earlier. Aaron sat up straight to look for it. He'd never come in contact with a human before, and had never been brave enough to reach out to one of them. Thomas always spoke with a wide grin of dashing young sailors who he'd torn into pieces, and Angelica only said that human men were evil creatures who she didn't dally with. Alexander's own dashing young sailor had gone to war and never come back. He always looked toward the sand and toyed with his locket when speaking of the man. 

None of those sounded appealing to Aaron. 

But looking at a ship up close for the first time was too exciting to miss out on. What if another didn’t come by until years had passed? He knew the likelihood of that was non-existent, but the sentiment stuck. He dived back into the water and didn't come up until a large rock formation blocked his way. He grabbed it, creating wet handprints on the rock, and peeked around to find out what he could see. 

The ship was small compared to most, but not pathetic by any means. With exotic redwood and a U-shaped bow, it seemed much more interesting than the trading ships that had passed before. It passed by the rock, and Aaron shied away, suddenly intimidated by the size of it.  

Then it slowed to a stop. 

He hesitated- a mistake. 

"I'm telling you, there's someone there," one man said. _Stupid, stupid, stupid._ Of course he'd get caught. The one time he'd gotten curious. 

"You've been drinking too much of that shit," said another. 

Footsteps, and he didn't dare look up when three men came into sight over the deck. 

"Look, he's right! Hey, what are you doing out there?" 

Aaron could have dived back down, he could have said he was fine and that he could swim back to shore, but his body wasn't working. He didn't even look to see their faces. 

Another set of footsteps. "What's going on here?" This voice seemed calmer than the rest, but as though he wasn't pleased by this turn of events. 

"Captain, there's a man out there, by the rock." 

"So there is," the captain agreed, and knelt to look at Aaron through the rails. "Do you need help?" 

Aaron shook his head and finally looked up. The captain had warm eyes and looked like something out of the stories he'd been told as a young boy by his sister. Aaron wanted to trust him, but there was no way a human man could be as trustworthy as he looked. Humans were deceitful in nature. He averted his gaze, embarrassed. 

 "Are you okay?" 

Aaron nodded. 

"Maybe he's an idiot," one of the other man said. 

The captain ignored him. "Can you swim?" 

Aaron nodded again. 

"Sir, look at his hands." 

Even though the request wasn't directed at him, he obeyed too, and only then did he see what the man was referring to. The little black triangles of skin connecting his fingers. He looked up again to realize that none of the humans on the ship had them. Aaron blinked, realizing that he probably wasn't going to make it out of the situation unscathed. By then it was too late. They knew what he was. 

While the rest of the men shouted among themselves nearer to the center of the ship, using words like "siren" and "sea monster," the captain stayed kneeling where he was. 

"Can you swim closer?" 

Aaron shook his head, and in a moment of weakness, let an inky tail fin flick above the water's surface. The captain's gaze didn't falter. 

"I won't hurt you. There is somewhere we need to be, and I think you'll know how to get there. I only ask for some direction, but I'd like to have you on the ship, if possible." 

That sounded like walking straight into a fisherman's net, but for some reason, Aaron obeyed and swam closer until he was touching the side of the ship.  

The captain unscrewed something in the rail and a small section of it opened, like a gate. "I'll pull you up," he said, and put out both hands, oblivious to the fact that Aaron could pull him down into the water and keep him there if he wanted to. He smiled a little, even as Aaron hesitated, and smiled more when he did grab the hands reaching out for him. It was an awkward stretch, but when his upper body was mostly above the ship's floor, the captain shifted to hook under his arms and pull him up the rest of the way. Then, he set Aaron on the rail and closed the gate. "There," he huffed, grinning. Aaron kept his hands against his chest, fiddling with the webbing between his fingers nervously. He was especially anxious with the way the captain looked him over. 

The other men seemed faint when they saw Aaron sitting on the railing. 

"Why is it up there?" One crew member shrieked. 

"I wasn't going to put him on the floor," the captain replied with a shrug. 

"It's a siren!" Another accused. "It'll make your ears bleed!" 

" _He_ hasn't said a word since we've seen him. Now please, get a blanket. I don't want him to get splinters in his tail, and he can't sit on the railing forever." The captain sighed and put one hand on Aaron's back, the other just below where his tail was bowed, then lifted him up. "Terribly sorry for them," he said, while the crew members in question fled. One of them opened a hatch in the floor and threw out a woolen blanket before hopping down into it. Aaron only barely refrained from making a noise when he was picked up, but managed to keep his shock quiet. "Could you pick that up for me?" He knelt again, allowing Aaron to grab the blanket, then stood back up. Aaron clutched the blanket to his chest, even more embarrassed by how nice the captain's warm hands felt on him. 

He walked them closer to a bench and set Aaron back on the rail for a moment just to take the blanket and spread it on the wooden slat, then set him on that instead. "There," he said again, and sat down next to Aaron. "Much better. Now, what's your name? I'm Jonathan Bellamy." 

Aaron hesitated again, looking away from the human. "Aaron." 

"Just Aaron?" He nodded. "Okay, Aaron. Do you need to be back in the water in a certain amount of time?" 

"No." That was only partly true. He'd get sick if he were out of water for more than a few days, but he doubted he'd spend that much time on the ship. 

"What do you eat?" 

 _Why would he want to know this?_ "Oysters and crabs." 

"Alright," Jonathan said. "Do you know where Mason's Island is?" 

Of course he did. Everyone knew that. Humans seemed more stupid than evil to Aaron. "Yes." 

"If I show you a map, could you point it out to me?" 

"Yes." 

He expected to be given a moment to reflect and perhaps find a means of escaping quietly, but instead, Jonathan pulled a map out of his back pocket and dug in his coat pocket to find charcoal. 

"Your services are greatly appreciated, Aaron. So, Mason's Island," he offered the piece of charcoal up. Aaron was probably meant to take it and mark the island himself, but he just clasped his hand around Jonathan's wrist and jerked it down to the location, creating a defined black X where he remembered the island to be. It was one of Sally's favorites, and he could understand why. With the amount of orchards on the hill near the edge of Mason's Island, sweet fruit often fell to water level where anyone could take it. It always made his tongue feel heavy and honeyed. "Thank you. We're visiting a friend there," Jonathan said, then put the map to the side. Aaron noticed that he was airing out slowly, and that his shoulders felt hot. Usually, the heat didn't affect him, as he stayed in caves and deep underwater for the most part. He'd never stayed in the sun as long as this before. "Is there anything you would like in return?" 

Aaron expected to be discarded when he'd given the human what he wanted, but he'd never expected to be repaid. He thought about it, tail twitching absently. "Fruit?" 

Jonathan's eyebrows furrowed. "You want fruit?" 

"The island has... gardens," Aaron said, hesitantly, his fingers fidgeting with the blanket underneath him. 

He considered this for a moment and stood up. Aaron's tail went from twitching to flicking violently with fear. If Jonathan noticed, he didn't say. "Alright. I'm going to give this map to the steersman. If you're still here when I come back, maybe we can talk." 

 _So he knows I might escape,_ Aaron thought, _but he doesn't seem upset about it._  

Aaron stared at his hands as the man's footsteps moved away, and as they made the wooden steps creak. He didn't move an inch until Jonathan came back. Despite being the one to consider trying to leave, he was almost offended at the mildly surprised look on Jonathan's face. As if he'd expected Aaron to be gone when he returned. 

"One more thing, and I'll be back," he said, opening a different hatch in the floor to climb down. Aaron only saw his arm bring up two tin buckets, with water sloshing out of both onto the deck. Jon came up again, now brandishing an ornate knife. Aaron inhaled sharply. He wouldn't be able to move fast enough if the human came at him. He pled with his eyes as Jon came nearer, ironically hoping that he'd find some humanity, only to be blindsided again when he sat back down. 

He was even more bewildered when Jon handed him the knife. 

"It's an hour away from the island, even now that we're headed in the right direction. I thought maybe you'd be hungry," he said, shrugging as he held up the bucket full of oysters. Aaron blinked rapidly for a second, looking at the knife, then at the bucket. 

"Oh, I-" Jon offered up one, which Aaron took gingerly. He put down the knife, not quite knowing what to do with it. 

"What's wrong?" He asked, eyebrows knitting together again. Humans must have been confused quite often. Aaron shook his head and put the oyster between both hands, twisting until it came apart. "Oh," Jon breathed, looking a bit unnerved as Aaron sucked the muscle out of its shell. "That's... convenient. Humans aren't able to do that, uh, mostly." 

"I figured," Aaron said, demure and perhaps a bit disparaging. 

Jon paused for a moment, then laughed, hard and sudden enough that his chest shook with the force of it. Aaron bristled, squaring his shoulders and grabbing another oyster from the bucket sharply. "Oyster-shucking methods aside," he started when the laughter had reduced to a simmer. "You are lovely." 

Aaron didn't respond at first, cracking open a few more shells in silence. "What is that supposed to mean?" He murmured, pushing the bucket around distractedly with his tail. 

Jon shook his head and smiled. "Nothing. You make good company," he said, then made a gesture with his pointer finger at Aaron's tail. "How about that? Do you grow legs or something?" 

Aaron scoffed indignantly, looking at the lustrous black scales as if they'd separate into human appendages at any moment. That was silly, of course, but he couldn't help worrying. "No. Why would you think that?" 

"There are stories about people of the sea. Dragging people under and eating them, causing ships to wreck, growing legs, seducing men with their songs. Seeing one is considered a bad omen," Jon explained, then snickered. "I guess seeing you, talking to you, pulling you onto my ship, carrying you, asking you for directions, and feeding you is a sign that I really don’t know what's coming for me." 

Aaron shrugged. "The first part is true of some, although I don't know whether any actually eat humans," It seemed like more of a ploy to sound intimidating rather than a true story to him. Especially coming from Thomas. The shipwrecks were mostly caused by the navigators themselves, but Peggy and Lafayette were almost always nearby. He had to wonder. "We have stories about you too." 

"Oh?" 

"Polluting the water, trying to capture us for wealth, always looking for some non-existent treasure trove, mostly." 

Jon sighed and smiled a little. "Unfortunately, those are all probably true." 

"Of some," Aaron corrected, and even though he knew the man wasn't upset, he wanted to comfort him. No species was completely evil, and given that he was being fed oysters on a ship without a single net in sight, he didn't have any right to pass judgment. 

"Of most," Jon demurred. "Humans can be thoughtless of other species, and most of us think we're the center of the universe. That we're entitled to anything that we come across." 

Aaron pursed his lips and averted his gaze to the horizon, watching various seabirds as the island came into sight. It was still mid day, and it had gotten a little cloudy, but the sky was the same. "Not you though," he said, crossing his arms over his chest. Jon hadn't been anything but kind to him. 

"That's very sweet of you, Aaron," Jon said, and another smile grew on his lips. This one wasn't sad like the other. He wrapped an arm around Aaron and got closer. "Now, I recall you saying that you didn't need to be back in the water at a certain time, but would you stay longer if I got you a tub?" 

Aaron looked at the human with a small smile. "A tub isn't an ocean," he said earnestly. Even though he didn't want to disappoint Jon, he also didn't have any intentions of leaving home to live in a bathtub. "But it might make spending time here easier," He couldn't believe he was pretending like this was going to become a regular occurrence. "Um, you aren't going to war, are you?" 

"I understand," he said, seemingly unphased by the rejection. He did frown at the question, a puzzled expression materializing. "No. Why?" 

"No reason," Aaron replied, secretly relieved. "Just... curious." 

Jon raised an eyebrow as if he knew that there was more to it than that, but Aaron didn't bother trying to explain. And Alexander wouldn't appreciate him blabbing to a stranger about his personal life. 

Just then, a crew member, one of the ones from earlier, popped out of the cabin. "It's still here?" He asked incredulously. Aaron clutched at Jon's shirt, and his tail began flicking again. 

"Yes, _he's_ still here, and he directed us towards Mason's Island, which we are nearly on top of, thanks to him," Jon scowled, carefully pulling Aaron close to him.  

"What does he want in return?" The crewman glared daggers at him. 

"Fruit," Jon said simply. 

"What?" 

"The island has fruit, and when we arrive, you're going to get him some," he said. His voice was gentle, but there was no hiding the command. The crewman looked scandalized for a moment, but his expression quickly shifted to one of resignation. 

"Yessir," he sighed and threw one more suspicious look over his shoulder before heading towards the bow to prepare for docking. A few others followed. 

"Thank you," Aaron said once he was gone.  

"Don't mention it. I will say that I believe they're more scared of you than you are of them. Everything they think they know about you comes from fairytales, so I wouldn't worry. Are you weak to iron or silver?" 

Aaron's mouth twisted. "No. Isn't that the fae?" 

"Most creatures are assumed to be weakened by all the same things, but clearly, that isn't true," Jon shrugged at his greatly offended look. "I told you humans are thoughtless." 

"That's just distasteful," Aaron shook his head. "I'm going to have to tell Angelica she was right." 

"There are others?" 

"Oh, lots of us," he replied. 

Jon's lip quirked into a smile. "Are their tails as beautiful as yours?" He asked, and Aaron had a feeling that he knew exactly what he was saying. 

"Better," he said, and Jon raised an eyebrow in skepticism. "Angelica's is pink and orange, and has blue polka dots. Peggy's is white, but she has orange spots all over her. Lafayette and Thomas both have shark tails, but I don't know what kind," He'd never even seen a shark before (and Thomas’ teeth were scary enough to make him feel lucky for that) but it was obvious enough from the grey color. He certainly wasn’t a dolphin. 

“Your friends sound interesting,” Jon said, and he continued before Aaron had the chance to protest that he and Lafayette were friends. “But I disagree. Yours is the best.” 

“It’s just black,” Aaron deadpanned.  

“And it’s elegant,” Jon countered. “Glossy, just like a pearl,” he said, with a quickly growing smile. 

“Tell me more.” 

Jon humored him. “Like the ocean on a starless night,” he said, smooth and quiet. And his waxing poetic would have gone on if not for a crew member turning the corner and gesturing for him. “Ah, I, uh-“ 

“I know,” Aaron smiled, sensing his embarrassment. “Come back.” 

“I will,” Jon said quickly, before he darted to the cabin, the bow, and lastly, the side ladder. Aaron watched him go, barely able to worry about being spotted when he could have been worrying about the first human he’d ever met. There was no reason to, but he couldn’t help it. Aaron looked a little past the cabin of the ship to see the foretold orchards and bushes on the hill.  

He had nothing to keep himself busy with while Jon was gone. Aaron sighed and opened more oysters, using a bit of the water from the bucket to splash his probably cracked shoulders. He frowned at the deck, perhaps blaming it for the human’s departure. He waited (whether it was patient or impatient didn’t matter.) 

It seemed to take forever, but when they finally got back in, he realized that it was worth it. Jon’s face was hidden behind a small basket of peaches, and the rest of the crew members, holding identical baskets with raspberries, blueberries, cherries, and apples, had matching disgusted expressions. It was delightful. Aaron clapped his hands together and let his tail swish excitedly despite how it brought attention to his differences from the crew. 

“They didn’t have berries last time,” he said, not sure how else to start. 

Jon put down the basket and cracked a smile, even as the other men dropped their baskets sharply and left. “I thought you’d want some variety. The old man said there were mushrooms too, but I didn’t know if those were your thing.” 

Aaron blinked. Jon held out a handful of raspberries to him, and in a moment of weakness (and idiocy) he leaned forward and ate them out of his hand, swiping his tongue lightly over the crease in the man’s palm. Then he stared at Jon expectantly, trying to pretend like he’d done that on purpose. 

Jon stared back, incredulous, and deciding not to address it, put all the baskets on the seat next to Aaron and sat on his other side. He reached for the blueberries and held a good bunch out again. That time, Aaron didn’t bother hesitating and met Jon’s eyes when he delicately ate the fruit, although when Aaron’s teeth grazed one of his fingers, he didn’t seem too daunted. 

“You have sharp teeth,” he said, and it was so obvious that it almost didn’t need a response. 

“Yeah,” Aaron replied thoughtlessly, stuck on the way Jon was stroking his cheek. 

He soon pulled away, the spell broken, but it was a nice memory for Aaron to keep. “Well, you can stay on the ship for as long as you’d like, and I’ll stay with you, but I think we should combine the baskets and cover it so you can bring it to… whoever else is down there with you. Sound good?” 

“Um, yes, but don’t you have to use the boat to leave?” Aaron wanted him to be happy, but he felt like reminding Jon of his obligations would only make him leave more quickly. 

“I’m staying here on the island,” he said, smiling gently. “I bought a little place up here, and the crew is going to head back tomorrow. You can come see me any time you’d like. And my house is going to be on that hill, so you can throw rocks if I’m not out there already.” 

Aaron smiled wide enough to bare his teeth and let Jon take his hands. “Are you sure our oyster-shucking differences won’t get in the way?” 

“That might be a deal-breaker.”


End file.
